DumpsterBossPro Blog — Driver App & Routes

Relocate Jobs: Moving a Dumpster Across the Site Without Guesswork

A Relocate job is the one most likely to be written down badly. The customer calls and says "can you move the dumpster?" The office writes "relocate." The driver shows up and has no idea where it is going. Across the driveway? To the back of the property? To a different lot on the same contractor job?

Following Dump and Return Jobs: Same Can, Same Spot, One Trip to the Landfill, this guide covers the job type with the least travel and the most room for confusion.

Why Customers Ask for a Relocate

Reasons vary. A contractor needs the can moved because the foundation crew needs the space. A homeowner needs it moved because the driveway is getting sealed. A commercial customer needs it moved because the fire marshal flagged where it sat. Sometimes the move is twenty feet. Sometimes it is to the other side of a large site.

Whatever the reason, the driver needs two things: where the can is now, and exactly where it needs to go.

The office should also ask why, because the reason often says something about the new spot. If the driveway is getting sealed, the can cannot go back on the driveway for a few days. If the foundation crew needs room, the new spot might change again in a week. That context helps the driver place it well.

Writing the Relocate Note

The relocate note should read like a placement note for the new spot: which side, how close, what to avoid, door direction, surface protection. "Move from front of drive to side pad by garage, door facing yard, boards under rails" is a usable note. "Relocate" is not.

If the destination is hard to describe, the office can use two-way texting to ask the customer to send details, or the note can say "customer will show new spot, send arrival text." Either way, the driver should not have to guess.

A relocate on a big contractor site benefits from a site contact name too. The person who called in the relocate might not be on site when the truck shows up, so "ask for the foreman, name on job" keeps the driver from wandering around a site looking for someone who knows.

Is the Can Moveable As Is

A full or heavy can may not be safe to move without emptying it first. Different trucks and setups have different limits, and the driver is the one who has to judge it on site. If the can is too full to move safely, the driver should tell the office, which may turn the relocate into a Dump & Return with a new spot. Safety rules and equipment limits vary, so follow your company's policy and check local requirements.

Photos Before and After

Take a photo of the can where it sat before you move it, and one after it is set in the new spot. If anything was damaged by the original placement, the before photo of the empty spot catches it. The after photo is the new placement record for the pickup driver.

Updating the Job

After the move, make sure the job reflects the new location in the notes. The pickup driver weeks later should not go looking at the old spot.

This is the part most often skipped. The relocate gets done, the driver taps complete, and the original placement note still says "front of drive." Three weeks later the pickup driver backs up to an empty spot, looks around and calls the office. Updating the note takes seconds and closes the loop. A short note like "Relocated to side pad by garage" and the after photo give the next driver everything they need.

Customer Texts and Timing

Send the on-the-way text so the customer can clear the new spot. A relocate fails if the new spot is full of material or a parked car. The arrival text helps when the customer needs to point to the spot. After the move, the customer can see the job is complete.

Relocates are short jobs that can be slotted between bigger runs when a truck is already nearby. That is a dispatch decision, but a driver who sees one on the list near a haul-to should mention it if a better order is obvious. For more on how relocates and every other job type look in the driver's view, see the dumpster driver app page.